Lord & Miller’s "Project Hail Mary"
Movie review by Dennis D. McDonald
Three thoughts came to mind as I watched this film in the theater:
The soundtrack music at times is very intrusive.
Some scenes went on much too long and will benefit from tighter editing.
Were a global level disaster like this to emerge, would the US given its current deteriorating conditions be able to exert leadership such as is suggested here?
Otherwise I really enjoyed the film. I was especially impressed with how it rendered visually the many amazing situations and scenes in the original book. I also like how the movie illustrates the main character’s gradual memory return vie flashbacks. (And yes I was able to overlook the unbalanced centrifuge.)
I just hope that the directors’ cut is actually shorter and has a way to reduce the overbearing and unnecessary choral music underlying the film’s frequent tense and exciting situations. The blasting music frequently detracts from what we are seeing on the big screen.
Review copyright (c) 2026 by Denis D. McDonald
